Murtagh, Galbatorix and Keira
by animallover55
Summary: Murtagh has been taken to the King's castle. Keira is a servant with secrets. What will happen as their lives unravel? Will they ever escape the King's orders. Not a great summary, it's my first story,rated T for possible future violence.
1. Meeting Murtagh

She watched as the young man was thrown into the large, dull room, he looked barely man. She wasn't sure who he was yet but he didn't look like he wanted to be there. The twins came up behind him and spoke but she didn't hear them she was staring intently at the man. He had slightly tanned looking skin and almost midnight black hair, then he looked up, his eyes were astonishingly dark brown, he was staring right at her. Keira was mesmerised she couldn't look away, she knew he couldn't see her, she was hidden but his look was intense.

"You will serve me from now on." stated the King in his monotone voice.

"I will not", said the stranger in a defiant tone. Keira thought she recognised the voice but before she could name it, it slipped from her memory. One of the twins muttered something and he screamed in pain, "You should show more respect especially when his highness is showing such kindness and mercy.", sneered the other. Keira winced at this, the king obviously wanted something from this man. "How is this kindness? You attack our group and kill everyone then drag me here and tell me I am to serve him" he shouted glaring at King Galbatorix.

He now had the full attention of the King, she could tell by his voice that there was a small twisted smile, playing on the King's lips. "Well, well, we are feisty aren't we. Unfortunately for you, you will be staying her from now on as my new rider and you will obey my orders." Realisation hit Keira, she knew who this man was, he was the second rider, the new friend of Eragon and the son of Morzan.

"Keira, go and sort his new room, downstairs." She jumped, hoping the King had not noticed her presence as she had sneaked behind the wall hanging and his throne before anyone had entered the room. The twins, now noticing her, gave her an unwelcoming look as she strode across the large room, refusing to answer. She would have no choice but to sort the room, but she would not give him the satisfaction of a respectful answer, especially as she knew that she only had to get a fire going, and the real reason for her new job was to get her out the room. Keira didn't need to be in there to know what was going on, the new rider was probably being forced to repeat an oath in the ancient language to bind him and his dragon to the King for as long as he requires his services.

The room Keira chose wasn't too grand, although none of the rooms downstairs were fitted elegantly, they had the bare essentials, a bed, wardrobe and some had a desk, but they did all have a wash area. She chose a well sized room, that had a desk and a working window, like everywhere else in the palace it was a dark, brown room that seemed to lack much light. She set about building the fire, wondering how the rider would react when he realised he would not be staying with his dragon. For that is what the emphasis on, "downstairs" was for, none of the rooms downstairs were large enough to fit a dragon in, let alone equipped with a sleeping area for one. Keira finished with the fire as she heard footsteps, knowing it was probably the twins escorting the rider to his chambers, she scrambled to her feet, not wanting to be near the traitors for too long. She despised the twins, for not only betraying the varden, whom she had never had the chance to meet, and joining the King, but she also resented their nature. They were cruel and enjoyed the pain of others, she couldn't stand them.

She met them at the door, along with the angry looking rider whose name was Murtagh, she assumed he wasn't happy about being taken away from his dragon as well as being stuck here. She gave a quick courtesy not knowing what this man was like and left the room. "Keira" one of the twins called with a smirk planted on his face, "The King wishes to speak with you, now".

"Thank you" came her simple reply as she changed direction and walked briskly passed the three.

The hallway was dark, damp and filled with cold. The torches that were lit, were few and did not give much heat to the people filled with dread as they crept along the corridor which lead to the main room. As many knew, people who were called, always had reason to fear. Keira soon reached the large, oak double doors and glared defiantly at the two guards stood at either side. One was new, a young boy of merely eighteen, who had been given the luck and grace to be saved from the battles many others his age faced. This young man named, Andrew, was secretly against the King and had frequently helped Keira in the past without anyone's knowledge.

The other was an older man in his late forties who was a true believer in the King and hated Keira with a vengeance as she constantly disobeyed and bent the rules. This guard thought she should have been dead already, but to kill her was forbidden and this served only to deepen his hate for this young woman. He scowled at her and knocked his menacing mace against the cold, hard floor twice. "Enter", came the reply from within.

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I know its quite short, but its my first entry and I'm hoping you'll stick with it. Please review, any criticisms will be appreciated.

I'm not entirely sure where I'm going or how fast, so if anyone has any suggestions, please tell.


	2. Chores and Demands

Keira walked through the now opened doors to face the King alone in the 'throne room' as it was called. She gave a hardly noticeable courtesy and proceeded to walk closer to the King as she was to stand in the middle of the circular room when being addressed. " As you have noticed we have a new guest joining us here," began the King, "He will be following orders like the rest of you, however, he is more important than you and your friends, therefore if he says he requires something, within reason, you will give it to him. You will treat him with respect as eventually he will realise that I stand for a good cause and will join me willingly." Keira gave a small smirk at this and thought inwardly, 'Good cause, yeah right. The way he looked he won't be handing himself over any time soon', however she was too wise to voice these opinions.

" Also, he is not to know who or what you are, although I doubt you will divulge some of that information willingly, it also means that you will have to show some self restraint. You may however, in the near future, be required to assist in his training. Is that clear?" Galbatorix finished with clear authority, staring directly at Keira.

"Yes, Master" spat Keira, she hated the word but she knew when the King was like this, showing off his power, that it was best to use it.

"Good, then you may return to you duties, also inform the others of the new guest." said Galbatorix, with edging boredom, now the excitement was over. Keira bowed low and headed back for the double doors, hoping to escape the twins and any more hassle for the day and to just carry on as normal. As if by magic, the double doors opened, which meant once again, the guards had heard everything. Keira fixed her eyes to the floor and scurried through the doorway, but before she could get very far, Adler, the older guard shouted, "I'm watching you, girl, so do as you're told." Keira didn't respond but carried on walking away towards the kitchen to help prepare for the evening meal for the King and his other servants.

When she arrived everyone was busy, scurrying around preparing the overly sized dinner that the King expected every day, without delay. Keira immediately set about fetching the expensive crockery and laying it out ready for the food, as she had no special talent for cooking, she was not permitted to cook for the King. She did however have to set the long, wooden table in the large dining hall. All of the places had to be set as one was never told how many guests there would be. Due to this tedious job, she was the one in charge of telling the others when the King was arriving.

As she was setting the last set of cutlery, Keira heard faint footsteps and the murmuring of the twins' voices. After silently cursing, she hurried into the kitchen to tell the others, they were early. Soon enough the twins had arrived and were standing next to, their now chosen places, waiting for the King.

Meanwhile all of the servants in the kitchen were scrambling around trying to finish the dinners and get them to the servants who would be acting as waitresses. This was just completed as Galbatorix himself walked through the door, clad in his usual over expensive leathers and cloak. He immediately took his seat at the head of the table, this was the queue for the waiters. A row of three girls then proceeded to enter the grand hall, all wearing similar, plain, knee length dresses. Included in these three girls was Keira who, as usual, had to serve the King himself. As she neared the feared man Keira drew in her breath and held it. She wished she didn't have to do this, she wished she could leave the castle, the king and her current life behind. She placed the meal down, still holding her breath, her whole body wanting to get out as quickly as possible. Just as she turned round and exhaled in relief, she froze, "Is our new guest not joining us tonight?" came the expectant voice of the King. Keira turned back around and approached him, knowing any other response would result in undesired consequences. "I don't know, I haven't seen him, I assume he has stayed in his room" she replied quickly and sharply. She stood, waiting for a reply, but as both Galbatorix and the twins continued to glare she added, "your highness".

"Fine, you will deliver him a servants dinner and tell him that tomorrow he will attend dinner."

"As you wish" stated Keira, thrilled at the addition to her chores for the night. She quickly turned and left, heading for the kitchen to start the washing up. Not long after she had started Clara arrived to help her finish as usual. Clara was a rather large, bubbly woman, who acted like a friendly Aunt figure to everyone. In Keira's eyes she was a little short and round but fairly pretty and loved by everyone. "So, who is this new guest of ours, I hear he is quite tall and not happy about being here." Started Clara.

"What, I don't even get a hello?" Keira joked back.

"Yes, when I've found out the latest gossip! So, what's he like, hmm? Handsome?"

"How should I know I barely saw him, all I know is he is certainly not happy about being here and he's probably had a good bashing by the twins, seeing as he didn't show up to dinner."

"Yeah, but who wants to go to dinner with that company? Heck, who wants to be here at all, not many!" the lady half jokes, half states.

"SSHH! They haven't finished dinner yet, though you do have a point. Anyway, I'll find out later because somebody has to go and deliver dinner to him. Oh, and did I mention the guest is Murtagh?"

"What! Morzan's son, Murtagh. No, you did not! I can't believe it, after all these years. I'm surprised he's so resistant!" Clara whispered in an urgent voice.

"Clara! You shouldn't be so judgemental! He did leave after all, you don't know what he's like, you've never met him!" Keira cries, an edge in her voice.

"I know. It's just odd that's all, not many with an upbringing like that get away unscathed. Maybe he'll be fine, I suppose we'll find out over the next few weeks."

No definite reply came from Keira, she was staring at nothing, in deep thought. Bringing her out of her thought was the sound of wood scraping on hard stone, signifying that dinner was over and everyone was leaving.

After about half an hour the washing up was finished and Keira went to get to some food for Murtagh. She went to the organised pile of leftovers, picking two slices of bread and a little vegetable, having been told to give him a servant's dinner. However, Keira did add some meat to the plate knowing he would probably need all the strength he could get after facing the twins and the visits would undoubtedly not stop. Keira would pick her leftovers later, before the rest went to the newly acquired pigs from the locals.

Keira then, once again, set off through the dark corridors for the room where Murtagh was staying. Keira didn't know what to expect, he probably wouldn't be in the best of moods and she just wanted to get this over with so she could go and clean out her assigned horses. Everyone was assigned horses to care for as Galbatorix had large armies and most men did not look after their own means of transport. It was one of the few jobs keira enjoyed, animals pass no judgement and it was always calming. Now as she approached his door she wished she was already there. She knocked twice and waited for a reply, there was none. She tried again, "Go Away" came the angry voice. "Fine, I'll put your dinner in the bin then." Retorted Keira, however she did not move.

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Hi, Thank you for all reviews. Please feel free to leave any comments. If you have any suggestions please say. Hope you like it. I am trying to write more because I know how impatient I am at waiting for updates. Sorry if this was a bit slow, hopefully it will pick up now, I'm trying to build the characters and stuff!


	3. More Demands

Chapter 3

Eventually Keira heard a resigned, "Come in". She then took the cold brass handle and opened the door, to reveal the very same room she had been in earlier, only now there was someone occupying that room. Murtagh was sat on his bed looking angry and in thought about what he could do. The bed was of an odd size, not quite a single bed, but it wasn't a full king size bed either. There was a fair sized oak desk under the only square window in the room. The fire was now glowing, having not been restocked and the door to the small washroom was open. There was also a plain wardrobe at the end of the bed, against the wall that Keira suspected was empty. She now paid more attention to the man in front of her. He was wearing black trousers and top with a good quality, dark brown, leather vest. He had dark brown hair that hung just before the base of his neck, his mouth was long with pale pink lips. His nose was long but not excessively large but the one thing that stood out again was his eyes. His eyes were set back, deep and penetrating. Keira had not seen such expressive eyes for a long time, if ever. They were a pool of the darkest chocolate only expressing anger and hatred at that moment. She could see he could give quite an impressionable glare.

Having corrected herself before she stood staring for too long, she made her way to the desk to set his, now looking rather small, meal down. "I know it's quite small, but it's what I was told to bring you. Also the King has requested that you attend dinner tomorrow." stated Keira. He looked at her before scowling and saying, "You can tell the King, I will do what I like and I have no intention of eating with him."

"If you feel so strongly, tell him yourself, I am not a messenger. I simply came to give you some food." Retorted Keira, now getting quite annoyed at this young man's attitude.

"I will, thank you. And how do I know that the food is not poisoned or something, I've seen better in a village market at the end of the week?"

By this point Keira was fuming, just because he was in a bad mood for being here, didn't mean he could take it out on her. She and everyone else were in the same position. "I can assure you that food is fine, it has not left my sight. Now if that is all, I shall leave." And with that she turned on her heel and left them room, leaving the door to create a solid thud as she walked down the hallway. She made her way back through all the long connected corridors, past the dining hall and out to a small wooden door at the back of the castle. This was the unacknowledged servant's door to the gardens.

The gardens were large and circled the whole of the castle. From the door you could see the patch of overgrown, wild flowers that someone had once devoted their time to. This range of colour was once spread throughout the grounds but as Galbatorix grew more power and acquired more men the area was reduced to a patch in the corner. It was still big enough to walk around and enjoy, although it was now quite a mess, the rest of the grounds were needed for more 'useful' things like training soldiers, and keeping the animals. Keira headed right, to the large, overcrowded stables. Due to the rapid incline of acquired horses, the stables had become increasingly overcrowded, such to the extent that there was at least two horses in every stall. Keira had mentioned this to the King but he had simply ignored her comment and then informed her that the number of horses that she had to care for had risen from twenty to thirty.

She hurriedly entered the long wooden building that now sheltered her from the cold, biting wind outside. She could just about see the far end of the long line of horses in the flickering, golden light emanating from the various lit torches. The stables were organised so that the stalls lay in a straight line either side of the path in the centre of the rectangular building. The path was made of rough grey cobbles, it was extremely uneven and hard to walk on. She grabbed the folk and starting clearing out the first stable, the horse was desperate for attention but tonight Keira was still far too angry to be pacified by the animals like usual.

Fifteen stables later and Keira had finished. She had mucked out the other fifteen early that morning, as was the usual routine. Now exhausted from the days events she slowly made her way back to the castle. Once sheltered inside Keira headed for the servant's quarters, the entrance to which was situated in a small corridor near the kitchen that led to the food store and an old, small, disuses tower. Along this corridor was a small spiral, stone staircase that led down in almost complete darkness to the servant's quarters. It was merely a large overcrowded room, with straw mattresses strewn across the floor as beds. The privacy hanging in the form of thin sheets of material attached to the ceiling surrounding each makeshift bed. Keira reached her own space near Clara and flopped on the straw.  
"So, what was he like?" came the immediate question as Clara soon came into view.

"Nothing special." Replied Keira with a bored tone.

"Oh, come on there must be something you can tell me? What does he look like?"

"Not really, I'm sure you'll see him soon anyway, he has been ordered to attend dinner and I doubt he will refuse that request for long. But for now may I go to sleep my dear friend, I'm tired and as usual have to get up early tomorrow." Pleaded Keira, wanting nothing more than to sleep.

"Yes, yes. You get some rest, you look like you need it" Clara stated, guessing there was something else going on that she was not letting on to. She then presumed to walk to her own bed and leave Keira to her sleep.

The next morning Keira woke up feeling refreshed and as positive as she could be. After mucking out the horses, Keira then started to help clean up after breakfast. This was never a formal meal as the King normally ate in his study or his own, personal room, which no one ever entered with the exception of his personal servant, who had precise instructions on when he could enter. Keira tried to remain positive after her breakfast of slop in a bowl but she couldn't help letting her mind wander to the fact that today was going to be hard considering the measly amount of food she was given. It wasn't helped by the fact that today she had to go and fetch some water from the nearest river. This job, Keira hated every part of, it was hard, laborious and took most of the day but from experience Keira knew it was better to be done now, when only one barrel was empty rather than a few. Otherwise the task took a ridiculously long amount of time and was not physically possible. Unfortunately this task was having to be undertaken more and more often, due to the growing numbers of soldiers and other creatures recruited to serve Galbatorix that were living either in or near the castle.

It was fast approaching sundown by the time Keira was finishing the trip to the river. She was exhausted but knew the day was done with her yet. She hurried back to the castle to help out with the dinner preparations. Most jobs she was excused from on water collecting days, but not this one as she was expected to have finished by sundown. She soon met Clara in the kitchen and joined her in peeling the carrots. Time flew past as Keira could not wait to retire to her mattress and soon dinner had been served and the King, accompanied by the twins, were finishing their food. She was soon woken from her trance as Keira heard her name being called, by Galbatorix himself. She soon scurried to the door of the grand hall and gave a small bow.

"You will give our new guest his servant's dinner once again, and tell him that he is on his last warning and that he is expected to attend dinner tomorrow. We won't continue to be nice if he shows me no respect and acts as he pleases." Keira gave a small smirk at this statement but hid it well, 'Nice?' She thought, 'When will that ever happen?'.

She gave a long sigh on the way to Murtagh's room. Tired and hungry, Keira was in no mood to be doing any extra jobs, neither was she looking forward to the prospect of another conversation with 'the new guest'. She promptly arrived at his door and gave two solid knocks. "Come in." Came the annoyed voice.

Keira walked in silently and planted the food on his desk, as she placed the food down she spoke, "Galbatorix expects you at dinner tomorrow, if you don't go he says he'll stop being nice. Which probably means he'll send the twins to do his dirty work." She then turned to leave, in no hurry to strike up a conversation, so she was shocked when she heard a reply.

"I'm sorry" came his voice. "For the way I spoke to you yesterday. I was annoyed and angry but I probably shouldn't have taken it out on you."

"Probably not. But I think I can forgive you, we're all in the same position anyway. Now if you don't mind I am going to excuse myself so that I can get some sleep." stated Keira as she now faced him. He did look a bit battered but now he just looked shocked for some unknown reason, but she left without thinking too much about it.

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Hi,

Sorry for the long delay, but thank you to all those people that reviewed! It is very encouraging! I'm trying to keep it going but at the same time I want to get some background storyline going, sorry if its dragging a bit.

Hope this is up to standards. Please leave any comments, suggestions or ideas, they would be appreciated.

Thank you!


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